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Friday, 5 August 2016

Today in a 4th grade English class I noticed that one female student, who had suffered a medium burn (from a restaurant grill) on her knee, was getting another student to touch her knee.

I asked them what was going on.

They replied that the 'medicine' (ointment) on the girl's knee smelled like oil.

"What kind of oil?" I asked.

"참깨" [Sesame], they replied.

(Sesame oil is commonly used in Korea to flavor foods.)

I asked the two girls if they knew about sesame seeds, which are also commonly used.

They seemed not to know what I was talking about, so, since I had some sesame seeds at my desk (I use them every day for flavoring on salads, veggies, and tofu), I went and got the plastic container to show them.

I usually buy toasted sesame seeds, and the students wanted to try them, so I gave each student a small portion.

There must have been some problem in communication, since sesame seeds are something every Korean kid should know about.

What is important, however, is that we spent a good 10 minutes speaking English about a food product, a conversation that would never show up in their textbooks. We used the computer dictionary a few times (they asked me if they could use it), and that was also good.